👍 ❤ that's what I'm talking about👋 don't forget about your little bro hahaha sounds like you're in a boat😂😂😂

Feel for you guys!! Cruising is sooooo not easy! But man you had me in tears during that monologue ending with "and my shorts don't fit because of too many tacos!"😂 This content deserves 1000000x the views! Can't wait to see the next one!

If I had that kind of cash, I’d sign up now. However, that’s not the case so I guess trial and error will be my path.. You guys seem like wonderful folks appreciate your efforts and the video. Thanks

Loved this!

Where do you guys live in northern WI! We have a cabin near Hayward. We’re chartering in the Apostles out of Bayfield this summer. Love the channel!

Have most of JK’s audiobooks- would be great if he narrated the next one great voice, passionate beyond 🙏

We bought a Catalina 42 hull 931 a year ago with a view to being in a position to do some live aboard cruising in a cpl years .. similar to yourselves we had limited experience with larger sailing yachts .. I had powerboats most my life and sailed a little as a young bloke, my wifes only experience being the powerboats weve had over last ten yrs so we had some shocks and learning lessons also. They are good boats but Catalinas archillies heal does seem to be the quality of their stainless .. weve had to replace the rear chainplate and front stem fitting which I dont think should have been needed on a 18yr old boat .. coupled with new rigging, sails, electrical upgrades and dozens of minor jobs weve thrown in a fair bit of money and time already into her and still have a rear tower, changing the flexi solars I thought id try with solids, replacement bimini and storm covers, deck hatches re leaks, head replacement pipework, running rigging, engine mounts, stuffing box and cutlass bearing work and a dozen or so smaller jobs to tick off the box .. ironically on a Catalina the surveyor said was the best hes seen hahaha but then then he was so skilled and thorough he didnt even pick up the boom was only hanging on by only three pop rivets and we were lucky to not end up in a big pickle bringing her the 200nm home. So I appreciate your frustrations better than most. As many yachties state .. everythings broken and will need fixing, you just dont know it yet. Thankfully for me we arnt living on the boat yet and ive been able to sort these things without the added complication and pain of my spouses emotional reactions to contend with .. that would have turned naturally painful things into an absolute nightmare and probably seen us fighting and acting like children ending in a for sale sign lol. Probably no big news to you but it seems to me following your exploits that the success or failure of your long terms plans will come down to how your able to make peace with the challenges of fixing things and the spanner they throw into your immediate plans .. youll have to forgive me for saying (with love) that you Gretchen handle that a lot better than Tim does. Each of the disasters youve had recently have IMO been blessings .. the issues with your engine, rigging and chainplates rather than seeing you tied to a dock could have seen you stranded out at sea with the fallout being much larger and that slightly different mindset of 'we were lucky' and appreciate dodging a bullet is invaluable. Youve had quite a few blessings there of people assisting with advice and help and theres much beauty in that .. fact is those gifts wouldnt have been possible without the challenges coming about in the first place. Its natural and unavoidable to feel gutted and frustrated when things go astray but life has taught me that things generally happen for our best interests in mind and life gives us what we need, rarely what we want and all are opportunities for growth or recipes for repeating self deprecating tendencies. Again with love a last thought .. for most men our greatest challenge comes in relation to not being able to control things .. not because of a god complex or wish to be king, it simply affects our self worth and identity directly .. if theres an issue we are wired to need to be able to fix it and when we cant it hurts us and as a consequence those around us lol. Some of this can be addressed by a slightly more balanced way of looking at things (growing if you like) .. other times it should be handled with a burn to learn more skills to assist us to be able to fix more things or at least provide us more confidence which I believe Tim needs .. investing as you have already in widening knowledge is not only important, its part of the journey. Our challenges can break us or make us shine .. only difference is how we choose to frame and view them. All the best, your be back out there with the wind filling your sails soon and the joy will return.

Most engine problems are related to lack of fuel or lack of cooling water. The strainer may very well be the cause of the problem, many times the solution is simple. Hoping all is well by now. Cheers, Richard

One thing I’ve learned is try to evaluate everything you are using while you are using it or cleaning it. I check our anchor swivel/shackle every time we anchor or clean the foredeck. I recently noticed a loose shackle pin on our mainsheet and one of the sheaves that leads the main sheet to the winch. The boom coming loose while sailing would have been a disaster. You can’t look at everything or catch every thing in time so don’t be too hard on yourself.

This is the video everyone who thinks they should buy a sailboat should see. The bikini and swimming channels never go into any of this stuff. Even here in the states there are very few yards/mechanics that are reliable. Just getting a phone call back is difficult most of the time. Ignorance is bliss, so many people are out there with problems much worse than yours and have no idea. You are right to fix it and not risk the mast coming down. The diesel is pretty easy to figure out. Lots of KZbin videos to help you.

I respect the fact that you guys are keeping it real and showing your audience the difficult sides of cruising as well as the joys. I think that adds tremendous value to your channel. I’m looking at buying my first sailboat for the 2025 season so I can start doing some cruising on the Chesapeake, and I really look up to sailors like yourselves that are out there living the dream. You all have put so many miles under the keel, and I’m confident that you’ll knock these maintenance issues out and sail on. Cheers. - Grey

Welcome to the real world

My favorite therapy word Tim is, wait for it… ‘cardboardeux’

Call the wambulance then get to work. Remember Mexico is sexico!

You can also use a shaker siphon to transfer water from the jugs. Just make sure it's dedicated to potable water and not also used for transferring fuel 😂 The nice thing about the siphon is, you don't have to hold the jug

You have my great sympathies. I live your frustration. Even here in Australia where there are heaps of tradesmen to fix things, any problem generally needs a three week solution: it takes a week to find someone who will come and look at it, another week for them to actually come, and then yet another week for them to actually come back with the necessary parts to fix it. Mexico? Who knows!

Ungh. So frustrating. "Island Time" really is "warm weather / tropic time". Definitely have been there. Hang in there!

Rust dripping off of your chainplates is pretty bad. However, you can replace your own chainplates. That's very straightforward that doesn't need an experienced rigger, but you may need to cut some access ports and buy some tools. Sounds like your engine is overheating. The coolant system is very simple. Familiarize yourself with it and ask yourself what problems you'd experience if each part failed. Then figure out what test you could perform to test for each failure mechanism. Understand that your boat is female and you have a relationship with her. They're not "mass produced" like cars. They're born, they live, they need loving attention and care, and they get old and eventually die. Love your boat.

Those gang plates are toast I could told you this , I've nvr sailed .

Ah so goes life. In future unstep at least once every 18mo. If turnbuckles are in bad shape run your spinnaker halyard and tension then remove the turnbuckles and fix. Diesel engines need constant maintenance and should be rebuilt between seven and 9000 hours if you do the head every 6000 hours, then you should be trouble free. If you can’t afford this kind of maintenance, yeah sell your boat and charter when you feel the urge.

LOL - Love you guys. I can relate to your shorts not fitting because of too many tacos. A few years ago while vacationing in PV my girlfriend and I took turns parasailing. I noticed that my girlfriend flew much higher than I did. I asked the fellow running the parasailing why I didn't fly as high as my girlfriend. He sarcastically told me that I ate too many tacos! I'm sure you guys got the boat sorted out and hope that you are now enjoying the cruising life!

LOL this looks like a mild sailing domestic! I hope things work out for you, I think they did, not sure how long your episodes drag(just heard it was March, lol), but I am thinking you guys already crossed, bc John K is in the So Pacific (no?)

There will eventually come a day when there isn't a single component of the boat that you have not personally replaced or disassembled/serviced/reassembled at least twice, and there's nothing left to figure out, it's all just routine and it's BORING. That's when you sell the boat.

Mmmm....nah.... we aren't so mtchy-matchy ... but that's me

Amazing story, thank you so much for recording this, it was like just sitting around with John.

Hello you two --- Miss you both @ HHN . Merry Christmas , Schafer!

Wow what wonderful people. I’m almost sad I have my own boat and can’t come with you, but hope to meet up with you in NZ this time next year.🍹⛵️🏝️🍸🥂

Great thoughtful questions to John. Wonderful natural interview style. Thank you.

aaaawwwwwwwwwwwwww SO GOOD! Nathan & Vivian! OMG I miss you fabulous humans SO MUCH! What a wonderful interview--and great reminder of the kind and gentle and fun spirits you both are (on top of being HELLA good pirates! YAR!) Never stop being YOU, you guys! It was so nice to see this interview and confidently say to myself--yep, THOSE are the two Ultima captains I was SOOOOOO fortunate enough to sail with on TWO passages! Thanks for sharing this great interview and big congratulations to Ultima and you both making SUCH strides since you started your journey just days before a pandemic! SO inspiring! Never stop! So many hugs to youuuuuuu! and thank YOU, GnT Sailing for running such a great interview--that ain't easy either! (ask me how I know, hahahahaha!) I've seen you guys on many Captain's Hours with JK and look forward to catching you on the next. Love your channel--safe passages and fair winds to you too!

Looking forward to my passage with this wonderful couple in June. Thanks for the wonderful interview!

Wow 3 in row amazing people fantastic interview I hope someday to do one of there trips. Thank you again and have wonderful and happy holiday

LOVED THIS INTERVIEW ! FAIR WINDS <3

You can call it whatever you want!!

Were you raised by single mom😂

You look retired. Can i work for you im a hard worker

Another great video. Thank you very much for talking with John about this incident and sharing his wisdom with us 😊 All the best!

Love this positive outlook ! Trying to get my partner interested in sailing ,may take a while….

Always great listening to J K talk about sailing. Thanks for recording this.

When you have John Kretschmer on your channel, and as a friend, you’ve got my attention! New subscriber.

22:59 …. Uh….NO They Didn’t, and the weld wasn’t holding the mast up. The leaking Chainplate hole in the deck corroded the massive Chainplate and the welded plate, when the Chainplate parted, it separated the weld. This was not a defect, it was a cheap n lazy owner of an old boat who believed what he wanted to. Unbelievable how people pile up the bs excuses when their bad decisions lead to disaster. Curious how nobody mentions the other Chainplate and its condition. I say all this because the video sorta gives the viewer the idea that it wasn’t the cheap n lazy owners decisions that led directly to this avoidable incident, that could have been fatal.

I'm like him. I much prefer to be out at sea than on anchor. I hate the short sails, 4 hours here, 6 hours there, 24 hours....don't like any of those. What I like are min 3 days but 5, 10, 20 days is where I relax. I also agree with the 80% rule. I rarely sail at hull speed. I like it about 80%.

I love John's writing and could listen to him talking all day long. Thanks for posting.

Is John related to the U boat ace Otto?

a poof or a puff? ha ha ha!!! dinghy and gas jugs on deck... must be day sailing?

Love John's books and listening to him he doesn't disappoint. Most of us will never do 'the big one', but I'm glad he's out there living that amazing life. Thanks for posting these interviews!

JK: I think cruising as a couple is one of the hardest things you can do. Tim: Oh My God! 😂😂😂

Gretchen, another fantastic, inspiring interview with John. Looking forward to your videos on the southbound sail to Costa Rica! - Grey

I absolutely love listening to John talk about his experiences and his mindset on sailing. I am only a year and a half into learning how to sail, and what he says excites me to continue thus dream and explore. When he explained how he feels pushing off the dock and the weight of the world disappears, I could agree more. Thank you for sharing this episode!

Please tell John, " The dolphins really are a God thing. Listen."

P.S. Total goosebumps re: the dolphin part of the story!